There might be a grain of truth in this after all..

I'm hearing from very reliable sources that 6 cabinet ministers plus possibly the prime minister will resign imminently...anybody else have any information on this claim?

Well since you unearthed last years SOL awards, Ibti you have my blessings to organise this years SOL awards

yes If you suddenly came into a lot of money, what's the first thing you would do with it?

We are really starting to churn out talented athletes now Abdirisak Ahmed Profile 3000m Funding: World Class Talent DOB: 30 December 1990 Born: Somalia Lives: Sheffield Club: City of Sheffield Coach: Robert Creasey National Championships 2007 England Athletics U20 5000m, 6th 2007 UK School Games 3000m, gold 2007 English Schools U17 3000m, gold 2006 UK School Games 3000m, silver Personal Bests 1500m 3:59.81 (2007) 3000m 8:28.97 (2006) 5000m 15:19.28 (2007) Career summary: Amongst his many other talents, Abdirisak is able to speak Arabic and Somali

What was the last thing you gave up trying to do because you realized it was hopeless?

nothing like a nigerian accent.

This should be interesting to watch. Never in modern history has a society so successfully managed to prolong its own suffering, and they are one of the reasons why.

It's not just cadaanka, if you find someone who ticks all the boxes as far as you're concerned but who isn't Somali it settles down to the effect it will have on your family and all the things that will be different in your potential household, and what it will mean for your future children. All in all, you should weigh up all the positives and negatives, certainly not something anybody should leap into without real thought (seems to be the case with many somalis who choose this path).

An invasion of Djibouti is a non-starter, purely because of the presence of the French and the American joint Task Force for the Horn.

The father was promoted to supreme commander of the Armed forces on Thursday, his son was taken on Friday.

lol, Adam - a true patriot even when he's asleep We're certainly going to need more guys like you if we want to take the first step in realising any such dreams. One thing is clear, nomads and sailors throughout history have brough innovation, ideas and word of hope to their people, and any succesful attempt to get the country back on its legs must start abroad, set into motion by the globetrotting Somali nomad of the 21st century.

I wouldn't mind 'a' onion soup on a cold day, no How does one punish a mountain?

Nope, no eyepatch, the bullet belts are a consolation though

try hearing a high pitched Athaan from a mobile in a packed lecture theatre

Politicians will be politicians and Somali politicians are elite feet-draggers. What has C/lahi Yusuf achieved in his ruinous couple of years in power? And what is this government doing from day to day? Does it need to wait until the Saudis or the EU/US toss a few million bob in their direction to set up a real dialogue? Full reconciliation will take years, surely getting this country back on its feet, and creating some semblance of peace and order is the priority after 17 years of chaos? This prime minister and this cabinet should be making bold, decisive moves not wasting (or stealing) donor money and just occupying chairs in the dilapitated sports halls of Baydhabo. But of course bold actions require bold leaders, C/lahi Yusuf isn't even independent.

a crazy people care centre

^^ Fancy that eh, a Harvard educated former lawyer, lecturer and now politician (or should that be icon), writing his own speeches. If he hadn't been doing that it would be severely damaging the authenticity of his image (which his opponents try to undermine mercilessly as it is).

^^ search Toronto and Homicide into Youtube. Hopefully it will help towards identifying the killers, because the wide availablity of this homicide tape will certainly add to the suffering of the family.

Do you think dreams are random gibberish of the subconscious mind to keep minimal brain activity while you sleep or do you think they can sometimes be insightful? Do dreams have any value at all? How do you differentiate between which dream is insightful and which isn’t? What about reoccurring dreams? I think dreams are very random, but they aren't complete gibberish in that every aspect of the dream stems from something you've seen, heard, read, done,thought or even dreamt before- so although the dream can be incoherent, the contents itself is familiar. Dreams can be very insightful, if you dream about ppl you know, dreams can highlight what your relationship with them really is, your subconscious feelings about someone can come to the fore in your dreams. Of course the same applies for yourself, sometimes you watch yourself do things in your dreams which are quite revealing.

^^ How come you haven't got a Somali history blog yet?

Today, i registered on a school reunion site, and exchanged emails with someone i havent seen in a decade, i'm basking in memories

^^ Yes, curious how a Catholic priest is advising the Turkish theological circle at Ankara University on how to modernise Islam. One of a multitude of things about this story that will raise eyebrows. I came across this article ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Turkey: Islamic Reformers Look Back To Future By Jeffrey Donovan (epa) ANKARA, November 29, 2006 (RFE/RL) -- On a dusty road atop a hill in a working-class neighborhood of Ankara, a German Catholic priest meets regularly with Muslim theologians. Together, as friends, they drink tea and debate the meaning of life. Clash of civilizations? Not here. At first glance, Felix Koerner might appear to be an odd ambassador for Islam. Tall, blond, and German, Koerner is a Roman Catholic priest. But he also happens to be a leading authority on a burgeoning theological movement in the Turkish capital that aims to reconcile Islam with modernity. "When Arabs ask, 'But can a Turk really be a good Muslim theologian, because he doesn't know Arabic?' Well, they all know Arabic very well," Koerner says. "But they shed another light on Islam -- by bringing in [reflections from] Western philosophy, sometimes Christian theology, even." The result, according to Koerner and Turkish theologians and historians interviewed here, is not a distortion of Islam. Rather, it is a deeper view, based on a fuller appreciation of the religion's traditions and literature. The 'Ankara School' Koerner, who has lived here for several years, is a frequent guest of the Theological Faculty of Ankara University. Some of the theologians and historians there make up the so-called Ankara School, an informal group whose mission is to help forge a "modern Islam" that is also faithful Islamic tradition. Felix Koerner (RFE/RL)At the heart of their work, which has the approval of Turkey's state religious authorities, is a rejection of the literalist reading of the Koran. "Some verses in the Koran are [about] war," says Nahide Bozkurt, an Islamic historian who has written a Turkish textbook about the life of the Prophet Muhammad. "We can't understand the holy book in a literal way, because the name of the religion is Islam. 'Islam' means peace." Bozkurt is currently working on a project to demonstrate that Islam, by its very nature, rejects violence and terrorism. "Some verses in the Koran are [about] war. We can't understand the holy book in a literal way, because the name of the religion is Islam. 'Islam' means peace." She is convinced that Islam's vast literature must be understood in its historical context. Bozkurt also thinks the narratives and biographies of Muhammad that appeared in the centuries after his death in 632 must also be carefully checked for accuracy and seen in their historical setting. Tradition Of Rethinking? But when many Muslims see the Koran as the literal word of God, interpretation can be a tricky business. "To prove that rethinking is something traditional is a challenge they also face, which is important for themselves, for their critical friends in the non-Turkish world, but also in their own country," Koerner says. To Mehmet Pacaci, however, "rethinking" is clearly more traditional than literalism. Pacaci is among the leading theologians of the Ankara School. He also has studied in Germany and read the classics of Christianity and Judaism. He calls Koerner a friend and, together with others, they often meet over tea and debate the meaning of their faiths and ways of interpreting them. To Pacaci, literalism is a modern movement that began in Egypt in the 19th century. He calls it a superficial way of understanding Islam, one that rejects the centuries-old tradition of understanding not only from the Koran but also from the literature that followed Muhammad, as well as the consensus of the Islamic community. Practicing 'Itjihad' Some Muslims might view interpretation as betrayal. Korner notes that there is an "unwritten" dogma that says the door was slammed on "ijtihad" -- that is, the Muslim use of reason as way to achieve modern readings of Islam -- back in the 13th century. Simply put, Pacaci says that is false. "Some people say that the door of ijtihad is closed," he says. "But when we look at the history of Islamic law, Muslims nations, we always see that ijtihad has been practiced." Mehmet Pacaci (RFE/RL)Pacaci says the core beliefs of Islam are timeless and changeless. He says that what differs from age to age is articulation -- the way the faith is lived in the light of new generations and new challenges. That includes the way that Shari'a, or Islamic law, is understood. He cites an example. Some literalist Islamic societies believe that under Shari'a, a thief must be punished with the loss of his hand. But Pacaci notes that this contradicts the traditions of several Muslim societies. For example, he says that theft during the 600-year reign of Turkey's Ottoman Empire was treated in a far different way -- with incarceration or fines, but usually not dismemberment. "[Literalism] appeared with Wahhabism, it appeared with reactionary Muslim movements," Pacaci says. "I mean, reducing Shari'a to a couple of punishments -- this is the reductionist approach to Islam and literalist approach." In this light, Pacaci argues that literalism is not only a superficial way of understanding Islam, but it is also a modern phenomenon that ignores Islamic history and literature. In other words, interpretation is a return to the roots of Islam -- to what he calls the "classical" approach. Possible Impact The Ankara School is just one part of a larger reform movement in Turkey, where society has had a more Western look ever since its founding as a rigidly secular state by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk in 1923. For example, the Directorate of Religious Affairs, or Diyanet, is currently overseeing a project to filter misogynist statements from the hadith, the traditional sayings and deeds of Muhammad that is the second most important source of Islamic law after the Koran. Might the Turkish laboratory begin to influence the rest of the Islamic world? The youthful Koerner, a Jesuit who helps minister to Ankara's only public-access church, recently published his doctoral thesis in English so that the wider Muslim world could read more about Islamic reform theology in Turkey. And he believes Turkey is already making an impact. "There are Arabs coming into Turkey and discovering that this is a way of rethinking Islam without losing the Muslim identity," Koerner says. "Modernity and Muslim identity must in some way go together."

^^ Nope, idil i think the Eurasian plate edge is further west (think Iceland), Britain is relatively close compared to the mainland, but thousands of miles away. LX hows it going sxb, hows your great blog coming along?

Yep, felt it alright. Mind you, i'm closer to the epicentre(Lincolnshire) than you lot. It happened around 1AM, i thought the house was falling down,it lasted about 15-20 seconds.